-Veronica Roth, Divergent
Going into Divergent, I was slightly worried. At first glance it pretty much just looked like "The Hunger Games", which I wasn't the biggest fan of, or just another young adult dystopian novel, with a strong, independent, rebellious but bland and generic female lead. And after the first few chapters of this book, while yes, I was enjoying the read to some extent, it felt very familiar. I was nervous to keep on reading, wondering if my hunch was right, wondering if it was just going to be another generic over hyped dystopian novel; With the factions, and the shady government, I genuinely thought that I new where this book was going. That it would end with the independent female lead starting an uprising and the end of the book teasing a war that will happen because of the main protagonist, Beatrice. That she would be a boring, poorly developed character who I was given no incentive to actually care about. That the book would consist of boring, uninteresting, unoriginal side characters, who I don't care who lived or died. So in short, I was nervous about being in for another Hunger Games. Normally I gain satisfaction from being right, but sometimes, I can have the same amount of satisfaction, if not more, from being wrong. Sometimes it's nice to be taken by surprise, and like "I Am The Messenger", this book really did take me by surprise.
First, let me just get the things that I didn't like about this book, they're not necessarily all big deals, but I feel that they did hinder my experience slightly. Firstly, the opening of was slow and tiresome at times, maybe Veronica Roth was trying to portray how Beatrice felt when she was living in abnegation, and how life was, but it was still not all that great to read. Oh and like I said earlier, if felt very familiar and I wish it had opened just a little bit more originally, but this is Roth's first book so I suppose I could give her a pass on that. Fortunately, the book does pick up rather quickly and actually does become surprisingly original so this isn't too much of a problem, but it is still an issue nonetheless.
Another thing that really bugged me in the book (and I don't know whether this has anything to do with me being a boy or anything but) was Fours. At the beginning I really enjoyed his presence, I felt that he was a strong, and at some points bad ass, mentor kind of character in the book. You know, someone for Tris to look up to, someone who'll give her wise advice and help her in hard times, I pictured him almost like a big brother to her. But, then, their relationship starts and his character, changes. Veronica Roth humanizes him a lot and reveals a lot of his weaknesses, and while at some points I really enjoyed him (like the scene when they go into his fear landscape) I did feel that in the end he was a weak character. In my opinion, he was one of the few things in Divergent that felt generic, he felt like the typical male love interest in these kind of young adult fiction books. He was tall, and handsome, and muscly, and pretty much physically perfect in every way, but he had dark secrets, and was mysterious, and intrigued Bel- I mean Tris. Geez, I wonder where I've seen that before. I am, however, grateful that the actual scenes with romance played well. They were well executed, and while yes, they were abundant at the end, they weren't a chore to read. Which is more than I can say for other young adult fiction that attempt romance.
OK, after all that rambling, now onto what I enjoyed about Divergent. I love the characters, and the journeys that they all take through out the book. I actually thoroughly enjoyed most of the side characters, and felt that they had some solid development and arcs. The fact that they felt somewhat real, and not like, cardboard cut outs definitely played a hand in this. Tris' friends were like how actual friends are like, you don't always like them. Sometimes they annoy you, sometimes they comfort and re-assure you, and Roth nails all of these traits. In scenes where she wants to translates Tris' frustration with her friends, or when she wants to show how they help Tris, and genuinely make her feel better at certain points, she does it wonderfully, and clearly gets the points across to the reader. Making it feel natural while doing so. I some scenes, I understood perfectly why they were friends, and I feel like that's a hard thing for some writers to achieve.
Another thing, that I adore about this book, is the creativity in the almost dream sequences. Well, the simulations, which are used to test the initiates in the book. I loved the vivid imagery that Roth portrays, I love how they all had a different meaning that was revealed towards the end of the books. I especially admired how surreal some of them felt, especially some of the fear landscape sequences, which actually had moments where you felt Tris' fear, which she would eventually learn to overcome. And when she does overcome these fears, you actually feel happy for the character, like she really earned it, which leads me into the next thing I enjoyed about Divergent. Tris.
What I loved about Tris' character, is that she really does feel like a flawed human being. There are those moments where she makes bad decisions, or questionable ones, and while you recognize that what she did wasn't the right thing, and that she could have reacted to some situations better, or maybe she could have been less brash, you do to some extent understand where's she's coming from, and her frustration and anger at certain things. Her being flawed, making mistakes, and sometimes not being the most likable person, makes her feel more real, it lets me as a reader, connect to her more as a character.
Oh and the ending, ooooh, the ending. I won't spoil anything but I will say, I was surprised by the ending twist, and the direction that Roth takes the series into. She does some bold things at the end, things that definitely took me by surprise and was a thrill to read.
To conclude, Divergent was definitely a page turner. It's one of those books that just grips you, and you find your self reading from chapter to chapter to chapter, almost seamlessly. With the, at times, intense action, or intimate romance, or fun banter between characters, I felt that there was always something to enjoy in Divergent. I would recommend it to anyone into young adult fiction, dystopian novels, or just a light, fun read. While yes, it wasn't perfect and had it's flaws, it was damn good for the first book Roth had published, and a great start to what I hope to be, a great series.
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